Thursday, June 08, 2017

Guess who is behind the Gulf States' split with Qatar. Go on, take a wild guess!

"Why Are the Gulf States Turning on Qatar? The Biggest Split in the Middle East Since the Gulf War" (see also):

"Qatar has denied that its ruler made that statement and claims that hackers broke into the Qatari news agency website and planted those quotes. This is a new kind of cyber war, says Qatari spokesmen and commentators, which strives to tarnish Qatar’s name. They claimed that this was a conspiracy between the U.A.E. and a pro-Israel lobby working in Washington alongside former senior administration officials.

It stems from disputes between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. The battle of leaks and hacking produced an interesting drama, after a series of emails allegedly exchanged between the U.A.E. ambassador in Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a research institute that was founded and is funded by, among others, Sheldon Adelson and Edgar Bronfman, as well as other Jewish millionaires.

This is a neoconservative institute that was established after 9/11 and which enjoys excellent relations with Netanyahu and senior officials in the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli government.

According to the leaked emails the United Arab Emirates and the Foundation exchanged ideas and opinion regarding ways of handling Qatar due to its support of Hamas and Iran. Ambassador al-Otaiba, who is considered one of the most influential and well-respected figures in Washington is fostering strong links with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. He reportedly also had connections with Israel’s ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer.

These new leaks are trying to deflect the political drama in the Gulf away from blaming Qatar and towards the UAE, which is described as coordinating its actions with Israel or at least with a pro-Israel lobby that is supported by Israel."

"Someone Is Using These Leaked Emails To Embarrass Washington’s Most Powerful Ambassador" (my emphasis in red; note the the Huffington Post may be on the Qatari payroll, but the emails seems legit):

"On May 24, Otaiba emailed nonresident fellow Mary Beth Long, a top former Pentagon and CIA official with ties to current Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. He appears to have shared an article critical of Zayed, the UAE prince.

“Isnt this the former Guardian hack who used to work for al Jazeera? I know it doesnt make MBZ feel better, but hes in pretty good company. Trump takes a beating here as well (but he always does),” Long wrote back.

Otaiba seemed to have expected more sympathy. “This site is paid for by Qatar!! How is donald trump the issue??” he wrote.

Long quickly concurred. “Darling, I KNOW,” she wrote. “What I was trying to convey is that NO ONE takes this site seriously (although I know it is still really hurtful and annoying.) My point is that even for people who dont know that, their main writer is a well known HACK who has no credibility as he is former AJ and Guardian ― where HACKs live!! Its basically a blog of filth and could never pass for more.”

Contacted about the exchange, Long stood by her comments in it and accused HuffPost of coordinating with hackers to obtain it. She threatened to sue if it was published."

"The Huffington Post said one of the emails showed Otaiba corresponding with Rob Malley, Obama's chief adviser on the Middle East, on election night.

"You got room for me in Abu Dhabi?" Malley wrote to Otaiba.

"This isn't funny," the UAE ambassador responded. "How/why is this happen. On what planet can Trump be a president."

In another exchange from 2016 with Judith Miller, a right-wing US commentator who reportedly sent Otaiba a series of tweets from a Saudi whistle-blower that criticised Emirati Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE diplomat said "the 7 minutes I spent reading this was the equivalent of watching 7 minutes of Donald Trump. A waste of my time."

The latest email leak comes after US media reported on Saturday that emails, released by a group called "GlobalLeaks" - not affiliated with the software developer, GlobaLeaks - showed clear collaboration between Otaiba and a pro-Israel think-tank in an attempt to discredit Qatar.

Otaiba is a well-known figure in US national security circles - he has been called "the most charming man in Washington" - and has participated in Pentagon strategy meetings at the invitation of defence officials.

Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi said those behind the leak told Huffington post that "their intention is to reveal the 'two-faced nature' of Emirati foreign policy".

He added that "from these emails it would appear that the ambassador to Washington doesn't have a very high opinion of Trump"."

Note that the UAE motive is to have the huge and very lucrative American military base moved from Qatar to the UAE, and the Khazar motive is presumably to moderately weaken the new 'Arab NATO' (Khazars like the Arab NATO but don't want it too strong), while ending Qatar's support for Hamas and Hezbollah (not forgetting that Qatari-funded headloppers are fighting Hezbollah in Syria!).

Guess who is behind the Gulf States' split with Qatar. Go on, take a wild guess!

"Why Are the Gulf States Turning on Qatar? The Biggest Split in the Middle East Since the Gulf War" (see also):

"Qatar has denied that its ruler made that statement and claims that hackers broke into the Qatari news agency website and planted those quotes. This is a new kind of cyber war, says Qatari spokesmen and commentators, which strives to tarnish Qatar’s name. They claimed that this was a conspiracy between the U.A.E. and a pro-Israel lobby working in Washington alongside former senior administration officials.

It stems from disputes between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. The battle of leaks and hacking produced an interesting drama, after a series of emails allegedly exchanged between the U.A.E. ambassador in Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a research institute that was founded and is funded by, among others, Sheldon Adelson and Edgar Bronfman, as well as other Jewish millionaires.

This is a neoconservative institute that was established after 9/11 and which enjoys excellent relations with Netanyahu and senior officials in the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli government.

According to the leaked emails the United Arab Emirates and the Foundation exchanged ideas and opinion regarding ways of handling Qatar due to its support of Hamas and Iran. Ambassador al-Otaiba, who is considered one of the most influential and well-respected figures in Washington is fostering strong links with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. He reportedly also had connections with Israel’s ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer.

These new leaks are trying to deflect the political drama in the Gulf away from blaming Qatar and towards the UAE, which is described as coordinating its actions with Israel or at least with a pro-Israel lobby that is supported by Israel."

"Someone Is Using These Leaked Emails To Embarrass Washington’s Most Powerful Ambassador" (my emphasis in red; note the the Huffington Post may be on the Qatari payroll, but the emails seems legit):

"On May 24, Otaiba emailed nonresident fellow Mary Beth Long, a top former Pentagon and CIA official with ties to current Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. He appears to have shared an article critical of Zayed, the UAE prince.

“Isnt this the former Guardian hack who used to work for al Jazeera? I know it doesnt make MBZ feel better, but hes in pretty good company. Trump takes a beating here as well (but he always does),” Long wrote back.

Otaiba seemed to have expected more sympathy. “This site is paid for by Qatar!! How is donald trump the issue??” he wrote.

Long quickly concurred. “Darling, I KNOW,” she wrote. “What I was trying to convey is that NO ONE takes this site seriously (although I know it is still really hurtful and annoying.) My point is that even for people who dont know that, their main writer is a well known HACK who has no credibility as he is former AJ and Guardian ― where HACKs live!! Its basically a blog of filth and could never pass for more.”

Contacted about the exchange, Long stood by her comments in it and accused HuffPost of coordinating with hackers to obtain it. She threatened to sue if it was published."

"The Huffington Post said one of the emails showed Otaiba corresponding with Rob Malley, Obama's chief adviser on the Middle East, on election night.

"You got room for me in Abu Dhabi?" Malley wrote to Otaiba.

"This isn't funny," the UAE ambassador responded. "How/why is this happen. On what planet can Trump be a president."

In another exchange from 2016 with Judith Miller, a right-wing US commentator who reportedly sent Otaiba a series of tweets from a Saudi whistle-blower that criticised Emirati Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE diplomat said "the 7 minutes I spent reading this was the equivalent of watching 7 minutes of Donald Trump. A waste of my time."

The latest email leak comes after US media reported on Saturday that emails, released by a group called "GlobalLeaks" - not affiliated with the software developer, GlobaLeaks - showed clear collaboration between Otaiba and a pro-Israel think-tank in an attempt to discredit Qatar.

Otaiba is a well-known figure in US national security circles - he has been called "the most charming man in Washington" - and has participated in Pentagon strategy meetings at the invitation of defence officials.

Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi said those behind the leak told Huffington post that "their intention is to reveal the 'two-faced nature' of Emirati foreign policy".

He added that "from these emails it would appear that the ambassador to Washington doesn't have a very high opinion of Trump"."

Note that the UAE motive is to have the huge and very lucrative American military base moved from Qatar to the UAE, and the Khazar motive is presumably to moderately weaken the new 'Arab NATO' (Khazars like the Arab NATO but don't want it too strong), while ending Qatar's support for Hamas and Hezbollah (not forgetting that Qatari-funded headloppers are fighting Hezbollah in Syria!).